The Dark Side transcript
THE ROOKIE Season 2 Episode 10 "The Dark Side" INT. BAR, NIGHT ARMSTRONG, CHEN, NOLAN, and WEST are having a drink. NOLAN No, but seriously, what is it like dating a celebrity? WEST Awesome. Yeah, he can always get a reservation, and the parties are sick. NOLAN (dreamily) Reservations. All laugh. CHEN Well, we're happy that you're happy. ARMSTRONG Liar. CHEN No! No! No. I am. It's just -- Aah! Men suck! NOLAN Ouch. CHEN Okay, no. The single men in LA suck. Every time I go out on a date and they find out that I'm a cop, they just get scared off. WEST Uh, except for the freak who begged you to pepper spray his junk. NOLAN Oh! Peter Pepper-balls. He and WEST laugh. CHEN Wow! I told you that in confidence. ARMSTRONG Look, those aren't men. Those are boys, okay? Real men are not afraid of strong women. Also, I hate to be the bearer of bad news -- dating a civilian, bad idea. CHEN I was told dating cops was a mistake. What, am I supposed to join a nunnery? Sister Officer Lucy Chen? ARMSTRONG Look, no, I'm saying that -- right now, end of shift means leaving the job behind when you go home. But in success, each one of you is gonna catch cases that kick your ass, that consume your every waking thought. WEST And non-cops won't be able to identify. ARMSTRONG Worse. They're gonna resent you for caring more about the dead than the living. NOLAN Was your wife on the job? ARMSTRONG No. No. She was an elementary school teacher. Yeah, kept me sane. Totally sane. I don't know what I did for her. Made her laugh, I guess -- on a good day. Anyway, time for another round. He reaches for the empty pitcher, but CHEN snatches it and gets up to go to the bar. CHEN Hey, no, no, no. Uh, I got it. I got it. Sorry. Excuse me. (elbowing her way through the crowd ) Sorry! (tries to flag down the bartender) Excuse me? (no response) Yeah, okay. An attractive man sitting at the bar speaks up. CALEB WRIGHT Pace yourself. It's a marathon, not a sprint. CHEN Have you been waiting here long? CALEB What month is it? CHEN Ohh. (they laugh) Maybe we should just hop the counter. CALEB Yeah, I'm not much of a hopper, but I am a rock star at creating diversion. How do you feel about small fires? CHEN Mm. Define "small." He grins and puts his hand out for her to shake. CALEB Caleb. CHEN Lucy. CALEB Nice to meet you. What brings you out on a Wednesday night? CHEN Uh, I'm just...hanging out with some friends from work. CALEB (looking at their table) Oh, looks like a fun group. What do you do? CHEN I, uh... I-I work for the city. CALEB Mm. Let me guess -- garbage man. Sorry. Garbage person. CHEN Yeah. Uh, actually, I prefer "sanitation goddess." They both laugh, but CHEN has spotted a man sneaking money off the bar and tables and pocketing it. CHEN Seriously? CALEB What? CHEN Uh, nothing. I -- Sorry. CALEB Is everything okay? CHEN Sorry. I-It was really nice to meet you. CHEN pursues the thief, snags him and brings him face down on a table, much to the surprise of the other patrons. Hey. Stop. You're under arrest. Don't move. (to CALEB) Surprise. I'm a cop. INT. LOPEZ/EVERS HOUSE, DAY - LIVING AREA LOPEZ is exercising when EVERS comes in, dressed in a suit and tie. EVERS Hey. LOPEZ Are you going to work? EVERS Ah, figured it was time to get off the couch. LOPEZ The doctor said to take it easy. You sure you're ready? EVERS Yeah. Yeah, the pills are working. I haven't had a panic attack since the first one. I'm all good. LOPEZ Okay. I just worry, you know? EVERS I know. But today is gonna be a great day. He kisses her. LOPEZ Mm. There's coffee in the kitchen. Let me take a quick shower, and I'll walk out with you. EVERS Okay. INT. MD-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - BRIEFING ROOM SGT. WADE GREY stands at the head of the room along with ADA SEAN DEL MONTE and DET. NICK ARMSTRONG. GREY At 0500 this morning, guards at Central California Women's Facility prepared prisoner 081316 for transport. Rosalind Dyer, the most rare of unicorns -- a female serial killer. For the last five years, she's been on death row, confined to an 11-by-8 cell. Today, she's coming to us. Now, before I get to assignment details, I want to defer to Assistant District Attorney Del Monte for background on Ms. Dyer. Sean? DEL MONTE Thank you, Sergeant. Good morning, everyone. OFFICERS Good morning. DEL MONTE My name is Sean Del Monte. For those of you who are not familiar with this case, in 2015, Rosalind Dyer was convicted in the torture and mutilation killings of seven individuals. ARMSTRONG But there's evidence that the body count is much higher. DEL MONTE In three of those seven murders, the bodies were never recovered, so now Dyer has agreed to show us the location of those three victims. NOLAN Excuse me, sir. In exchange for what? DEL MONTE Well, her sentence will be commuted from death to life without parole. BRADFORD Why the hell are we cutting her that break? DEL MONTE Well, it's not for her. It's for the families of those victims. They've been waiting a long time for closure. ARMSTRONG Yeah, what about the other families? The ones that we promised the death penalty? What do we tell them? 'Cause they're calling me. DEL MONTE Just tell them it's above your pay grade, Detective. LOPEZ Why does she have to come here? Can't she just tell you where the bodies are? DEL MONTE She claims not to know their precise locations. Griffith Park is over 4,000 acres. Dyer says the only way she'll be able to identify the dig sites is by retracing her original footsteps. HARPER Sounds like an excuse to get out in the sun, relive her kills. DEL MONTE Maybe, but she knows if she doesn't lead us to all three bodies that the deal is off, so... GREY Okay, let's get down to it. First, the station needs to be locked down for her arrival. Processing is officially closed for business. All suspects in our holding cells will be shipped to the Twin Towers. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - PROCESSING NOLAN, CHEN, and WEST are processing suspects for transport. NOLAN This is so surreal. An honest-to-God serial killer? CHEN The psychology is pretty fascinating -- well, biology, really. Brain-scan research shows clear differences in the amygdala and the supramarginal gyrus of a signature killer. WEST English? CHEN They lack the ability to feel empathy. There's also data that suggests some psychopaths could have a decreased sense of smell. NOLAN Making it easier for them to deal with dead bodies? Man, the universe has a sick sense of humor. WEST Yeah, it's like a whole kind of different species than the normal riffraff we handle. NOLAN The meat and potato criminals. (to the suspect) What did we arrest you for? CRIMINAL I stole my neighbor's sex doll. WEST Said with no shame at all. CRIMINAL A man has needs. CHEN Right. And they're usually transactional in nature. You're horny, you steal a sex toy from your neighbor, and then you get caught because no thought or planning goes into the act. NOLAN Right. Only, with Rosalind, the act that fulfilled the need was torture. Man, woman, black, white -- each one scratched a different itch. CRIMINAL Damn. That girl is messed up. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - HALLWAY CHEN and BRADFORD are walking and talking. CHEN I was in college when they found the first victims. It was all anyone talked about -- that and "How could a woman be so barbaric?" BRADFORD I worked one of the scenes. Fourth victim -- Lisa Cruz. Homicide detectives warned me not to look at the body. Should've listened. CHEN Oh, my God. They get to the end of the hallway near Reception and see CALEB. CALEB Lucy. CHEN Uh...hey. CALEB Caleb, from the bar last night. CHEN Yeah. Uh... CALEB I hope this isn't weird, but you left with your perp before I had a chance to ask your number. BRADFORD (disapprovingly) We don't call them "perps." CALEB Right. Sorry. Anyway, this is my info. If you ever feel like waiting in vain for a drink, give me a call. He holds out a piece of paper to CHEN, but BRADFORD takes it before she can. BRADFORD You got a last name, there, Caleb? CALEB Uh, yes, sir. Wright, with a "W." BRADFORD What do you do? If you say "screenwriter," you're going in a cell. CALEB I manage a medical supply company downtown. CHEN (to CALEB) I'm sorry about him. Things are a little crazy right now. CALEB No problem. (to BRADFORD) It was nice meeting you. Officer. He departs and CHEN glares at BRADFORD. BRADFORD What? She holds out her hand and he reluctantly gives her the piece of paper. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - STAIRCASE NOLAN catches up with ARMSTRONG on the way down the stairs. NOLAN Hey. You okay? ARMSTRONG That obvious? NOLAN You just seem a little...tight. ARMSTRONG I led the task force that caught Rosalind. For two years, we pulled on every desperate thread, praying we wouldn't have to stand over another mutilated body. NOLAN Can't imagine how devastating that was for you. ARMSTRONG Yeah. So, you can see why I'm not so happy that Rosalind demanded I come on this little field trip. NOLAN Any advice on how to deal with her? ARMSTRONG Don't try to figure her out. NOLAN 'Cause I'm not qualified? ARMSTRONG Because therein lies the madness. Is there any real rationale why someone would take off a person's hands? Or pour boiling oil down someone's throat? We've all got this morbid curiosity to ask why. Don't. You don't want to know what's in her head. And you sure as hell don't want her in yours. They end up at the entrance to the sally port, where GREY is standing by. ARMSTRONG You have an ETA? GREY Yeah. Now. A van backs into the port as NOLAN, CHEN, BRADFORD, and HARPER take up positions along the wall. SGT. ANTONIO HERNANDEZ gets out of the van and approaches GREY. SGT. HERNANDEZ Sergeant Grey? GREY Yeah. HERNANDEZ (flipping through papers on a clipboard) Sergeant Hernandez. Her last meal was at 0600. Her last use of the bathroom was 47 minutes ago, so you're good for two more hours, but you will -- GREY I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What is all this? SGT. HERNANDEZ Eighth Amendment. Covers cruel and unusual punishment. If she's in your custody, the rules still apply. Inmate bill of rights, including the update of SB-1146, so you don't get yourself sued. He hands GREY the clipboard and a pen. GREY Okay, what -- what am I signing? SGT. HERNANDEZ It's a sworn affidavit that states that I, Sergeant Antonio Hernandez, California Department of Corrections, hereby transfer Prisoner 081316 to the custody of Sergeant Wade Grey, Los Angeles Police Department. Thank you. (to the people in the van) Okay! Bring her out! The back doors of the van open and a woman strapped to a wheelchair is brought out and parked in front of the assembled LAPD personnel. ROSALIND Hello, Nick. ARMSTRONG Rosalind. ROSALIND Are you gonna introduce me to your friends? ARMSTRONG They got name tags. You got eyes. ROSALIND That's not very gracious, Nick, after all that we've been through. CHEN and HARPER have unbuckled her restraints and she stands, staggering a little. NOLAN catches her arm and steadies her briefly. ROSALIND Ohh. Thank you. HERNANDEZ (to GREY) Do you want us to leave the chair? (a beat) That requires more paperwork. GREY No. She'll be covering rough terrain. She'll have to walk. (to his officers) Get her prepped. We're wheels up in 20. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - UNDERGROUND GARAGE WEST and LOPEZ are walking to their shop. WEST Think all this is really necessary? LOPEZ It's gonna be a circus. Press is lined up outside. Operational security is going to be crucial. INT. BAR, DAY EVERS sits at a bar, looking anxious and weary. He downs a couple of pills and chases them with a drink. BARTENDER Another one, sir? Here you go. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - HOLDING HARPER is searching ROSALIND. HARPER Arms up, palms out. ROSALIND They did this back at the prison. HARPER And I'm doing it again. ROSALIND Thorough. I appreciate that. I once pulled every tooth out of the head of a predatory anesthesiologist. It'd have been easier to just take a hammer to him, but a person should take pride in their work. Don't you think, Officer Nolan? NOLAN Ma'am, if you're trying to shock me, you're in for a disappointment. ROSALIND Mm. I like a challenge. (to DEL MONTE) How about it? Should I take you to the good doctor's body first, Sean? DEL MONTE As long as we get all three, the order doesn't matter. ROSALIND Ohhh. Spoken like an uninspired civil servant. Sean's a yawn in a midrange suit. Only made this deal 'cause he's running for DA next year. HARPER Hands up. She and NOLAN slip a protective vest marked LAPD over ROSALIND's head and secure it. ROSALIND Expecting trouble? HARPER Preparing for it. We're good to go. DEL MONTE All right. Let's move her out. EXT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - UNDERGROUND GARAGE EXIT The press and gawkers are out in force, watching as a procession of patrol cars and a SWAT wagon exit the station and turn left. Another procession, escorting a plain white van, exits and turns right, but it attracts little attention from the assembled crowd. ROSALIND is in the van, along with NOLAN, DEL MONTE, HARPER, and ARMSTRONG. NOLAN (on radio) Bravo team, mission accomplished. Safe travels. WEST (in the patrol car in the first convoy) Copy that. You too. (to LOPEZ) Now for a nice, leisurely lap around Los Angeles. INT. PATROL UNIT - BRADFORD/CHEN CHEN is sneaking a peek at her cell phone. BRADFORD What are you doing? CHEN Nothing. CHEN is looking at a photo of CALEB on her phone. BRADFORD Get your head in the game. Today's the most dangerous day you've ever spent on the job. CHEN turns her phone off and puts it away. INT. VAN, DAY ROSALIND Couldn't ask for a nicer day for a hike. Dating anyone, Nick? It's been five years since Rebecca died. Time to get back on that horse, don't you think? You must have needs. NOLAN That's enough. ROSALIND Ooh. You have a protector here, Nick. Officer Nolan has your back. He must not know what you did to catch me. The van winds its way into Griffith Park and stops, along with its police escort vehicles, at the side of a road. ROSALIND and her entourage get out and she looks around, relaxed in spite of the helicopters patrolling overhead. ROSALIND Such a lovely day. Mm. Shall we? (they start walking) I love this hike. Sometimes, early in the morning, you'll see rabbits darting along the trail. And, of course, the coyotes come out at night. NOLAN How did you carry a body all the way up here? ROSALIND Oh, he was still alive at this point. Thought we were going on a picnic. There was a moment, as we got deeper in the woods, when he showed just a sliver of fear, but then he remembered he was a man and didn't have to worry about things like that. HARPER Adam Team, we are now headed... 31 degrees northeast. DEL MONTE Hey, how much further? ROSALIND A ways. ARMSTRONG drops back to walk next to DEL MONTE. ARMSTRONG She's enjoying this. DEL MONTE Well, as long as three families get closure today, I don't care what she feels. ARMSTRONG Ah, you mean as long as you get your photo op? DEL MONTE Man, why are you so determined to think the worst of me? ARMSTRONG You chose to ignore her other murders. DEL MONTE We didn't have enough evidence to convict. You understand? We went with our strongest case. ARMSTRONG Yeah, and you cast those other victims aside. So those families may never get any closure. ROSALIND It's up this way. BRADFORD and CHEN bring up the rear. BRADFORD Okay, so, you've met the monster. Is she less scary in the light of day? CHEN Not really. You think she'll try to escape? BRADFORD I hope so. It'd be suicide. She wouldn't make it 10 feet. CHEN She's smart. I mean, to have killed for that long, undetected. Maybe there's a play we're not seeing. BRADFORD Yeah, to jerk around the police, feel like she's in control again -- that's her play. The group reaches a clearing and ROSALIND stops walking. ROSALIND We should take a break. It's gonna be a long day. We wouldn't want to burn out too early. HARPER (into radio) We're gonna hold here. All units stand by. NOLAN offers ROSALIND a bottle of water, but she shrugs, indicating her cuffed hands. NOLAN Uh... Armstrong, I'm gonna take off her cuffs -- just one, just for water. ARMSTRONG Got it. ROSALIND Thank you, Officer Nolan. You're very sweet. NOLAN Don't take it personally. Just wouldn't want to get a cruel and unusual punishment charge lodged against me. ROSALIND That'd be ironic, huh? Me accusing someone else of being cruel. And I could teach a master class on unusual punishments. NOLAN catches sight of something moving through the trees and HARPER notices him noticing. HARPER What? NOLAN I thought I saw movement. Do we have any other personnel in the woods with us today? HARPER No. Suddenly they're being shot at; NOLAN tackles ROSALIND to the ground and the others leap to find the shooter. DEL MONTE is wounded in the head and goes down as the shooting continues. DEL MONTE Ow! Ow! I'm hit! BRADFORD Flank him. CHEN Yeah, yeah, yeah. ARMSTRONG (kneeling beside DEL MONTE) Let me see. Let me see! DEL MONTE I can't see. I can't see. ARMSTRONG Let me see! Move your hand. You just caught some shrapnel. It's just blood in your eye. BRADFORD and CHEN have found the shooter, one man with a rifle. BRADFORD Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Put it down on the ground now! Hands up in the air! Hands behind your head! Interlock your fingers! Who else is with you? PETER MASON Nobody. CHEN Are you trying to free Rosalind? MASON Free her? I'm trying to kill her. She murdered my wife. EXT. GRIFFITH PARK, DAY - ROADSIDE More patrol units have arrived, including one carrying SGT. GREY. GREY Hey. What the hell happened? ARMSTRONG Peter's wife was Rosalind's third official victim. We only found half her body. In the years since, I have been to this man's house more times than I can count -- dinners, kids' birthday parties. Crimes like this, you get close to people, and -- [ Groans ] NOLAN First, they lose their mother, and now this. Even now, she's still destroying people's lives. GREY Look, maybe we should pull the plug. DEL MONTE No way. ARMSTRONG I agree with the sarge. DEL MONTE I don't care. We have a job to do. Listen to me, Sergeant, if you pull the plug now, we're gonna have to go through this whole operation all over again in a week, maybe a month's time, and then, this circus will be twice as big next time. HARPER He's right. We're here. We should just get it done. ROSALIND and her watchers resume their hike. ROSALIND (to NOLAN) Penny for your thoughts. (long pause) Well, I was just thinking about how you saved my life. I've literally peeled a woman's face off, and yet, you put your body between me and a bullet. Why? NOLAN It's my job. I don't get to choose who I save. ROSALIND Oh, it's funny. People look at me like I'm an alien, but it goes both ways. You don't do sadism, I don't do selfless. Ah. We're here. I buried him at the base of that tree. I gave him a paralytic. Put it in his iced tea. And we watched the sun set as I took off his hands and feet. It was such a special day. Do you know why, Nick? ARMSTRONG No. And I don't want to. ROSALIND It was the first day that you and I met. Ohhhh. You had no idea when you came to my office that morning that I was the one you were looking for. I thought for sure at first you were onto me, but I could see in your eyes you had no clue. So... I came up here to celebrate. NOLAN and WEST have been digging carefully at the indicated spot; NOLAN finds an arm bone. NOLAN Got something. No hands. (checks further) It's him. WEST uncovers something nearby - a partially decomposed head. WEST Holy God! LOPEZ There's another body. HARPER And it's much fresher. GREY Six months, nine tops. NOLAN, HARPER, DEL MONTE, GREY and LOPEZ all turn around to face ROSALIND. ROSALIND Don't look at me. I've been in prison for the last five years. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - GREY'S OFFICE GREY How is this possible? The only person that knew Rosalind buried a body in that spot is her, and she's been on death row for four years. ARMSTRONG Maybe she was working with someone from back in the day, someone we missed. HARPER Or she inspired a new killer. NOLAN And she just so happened to find the dig spot in the middle of a state park? I don't think so. They've got to be working together. GREY But how? All contact between her and the world is heavily monitored. NOLAN Let's ask her. ARMSTRONG Not yet. This was coordinated from the beginning. She's been playing us since she made the deal with Del Monte. HARPER You know her better than anyone else. What's the play here? ARMSTRONG She wants attention. So let's not give it to her till we find out everything we can about that second body. LOPEZ' cell phone beeps and she steps away to answer it. LOPEZ Excuse me. (on the phone) Hey, what's up? EVERS is calling from the bar, where he's seen the news on a TV. EVERS Thank God you're okay. LOPEZ What? Yeah, I'm fine. Why? EVERS A-A cop was shot? They said a cop was shot. LOPEZ No, it was the ADA. But he's okay. Calm down. I know it's scary. I should've called you. EVERS No. No, no, no. LOPEZ Yeah, I just -- EVERS I, uh... I just panicked a little. I mean, I-I'm watching the TV, and they say a cop was shot, but t-they didn't say who, so -- LOPEZ Watching TV? Aren't you at the office? EVERS Yeah. I-I have one here. [ car horn blares ] Uh, s-sorry. The window's open. I'm just... really glad that you're okay. LOPEZ I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. EVERS No, it's okay. Um...look, a client just walked in. I got to go, okay? Bye. INT. MORGUE, DAY - ELEVATOR CHEN is smiling at a picture on her phone that looks like CALEB and a dog. BRADFORD What are you doing? CHEN Nothing. BRADFORD Oh. 10 bucks that isn't even his dog. CHEN It's been an awful day. Can't I just enjoy a cute puppy? BRADFORD This is your first decomp, right? CHEN Uh, yeah. BRADFORD Hope you had a light breakfast. Solomon. He greets the ME as they step off the elevator. DR. SOLOMON LOWELL Hey, Bradford. This your mess? BRADFORD Yeah, for now. (to CHEN) You good? CHEN Yeah. LOWELL Just got them up on the table, so don't expect much. BRADFORD Eh, we're on a clock. We need to ID the newer body ASAP. What are the odds of pulling a print with a mobile scanner? LOWELL Zero. Meat's falling off the bone here. And I might be able to rehydrate the skin enough to pull a print, but it'll take me a few hours. BRADFORD All right, well, as quickly as possible. CHEN Is there anything you can show us while we're here? LOWELL Very different dispositions between the two victims. They didn't even bring me the hands and feet for the older one. Any idea where they are? CHEN Uh, she didn't say. LOWELL Well, the newer victim doesn't appear to have any visible premortem mutilations. BRADFORD Well, we know she was killed by someone different. Any guess how she died? LOWELL Asphyxiation, most likely. You see the petechiae around the face? CHEN She was strangled? LOWELL I don't think so. No ligature marks. The face has intradermal hemorrhage, as if she was screaming for hours. Plus, all of her nails are busted. CHEN She was trying to claw herself out of someplace before she ran out of air. BRADFORD What's that? LOWELL What? BRADFORD Right there. It's a tattoo reading DOD6819. LOWELL Huh. That looks like it was fresh when she went into the ground. CHEN Are you saying she was tattooed right before she died? LOWELL Well, I'd have to do a proper examination, but it looks likely. BRADFORD Okay, DOD6819. CHEN The numbers could be a date. June 8, 2019? That would be... six months ago tomorrow. What's "DOD"? BRADFORD "Day of Death." INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - GREY'S OFFICE NOLAN is watching ROSALIND on a monitor; she's sitting quietly in Holding. NOLAN I don't think I've ever been as calm as she looks right now. ARMSTRONG That's what not having a conscience gets you. DEL MONTE enters the room. GREY Anything? DEL MONTE Well, the warden's having her cell taken down to the studs, but so far, nothing. And she hasn't had a single visit in there other than her lawyer since she's been inside. NOLAN Well, who's the lawyer? Could they have been acting as a go-between? DEL MONTE No. I know this guy. He's a straight shooter. There's no way he'd be involved with something like this. NOLAN So, we're nowhere. ARMSTRONG Rosalind's been working on this for at least a year. She's too smart to leave behind any obvious bread crumbs. DEL MONTE So, we take a run at her. ARMSTRONG No. I take a run at her. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - HOLDING ROSALIND sits humming to herself, cuffed to the bench, when ARMSTRONG enters. ARMSTRONG Enjoying yourself? ROSALIND Well... the real fun is yet to come. Oh, no, no. I don't want to talk to you. I want the Boy Scout. (looking into the video camera) Officer Nolan... come on in. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - HOLDING NOLAN enters the room. NOLAN Here I am, as requested. He sits on a bench across from ROSALIND. ROSALIND You don't sound very confident. NOLAN You do. ROSALIND You know the best part about getting caught? Getting to relive every detail with Nick. I didn't expect that. How much I'd enjoy sharing my...experiences, seeing how they horrified people. Oh, don't get me wrong. It didn't get me as high as the murders themselves. Those lasted me months. NOLAN Who killed the woman in the grave? ROSALIND Oh, and the trial. God, I loved the trial. [ Breathes deeply ] Cops are jaded. You really have to work to see the shock behind the wall they put up. But the jury -- oof. Oh. And the families. Mm. I ate their pain like a five-star meal. (as he rises and turns away) Where are you going? NOLAN Back to work. You have someone give me a shout when you're done pleasuring yourself. ROSALIND Wait. [ Breathes deeply ] Tell me about the body we found. I could only see her face before you took me back to the van. How did she die? NOLAN Visual autopsy showed that she suffocated to death -- most likely in some kind of a container. Her face showed sign of intradermal hemorrhage. ROSALIND Stupid girl. Wasting all that air screaming. She probably shortened her life by an hour. What about her hands? Was she trying to free herself? NOLAN Yes. Yes, I imagine the last few hours of her life were truly awful. Now, I've shared something with you. According to the movies, it's your turn to share something with me. So, who killed that woman? ROSALIND Slow down, Officer Nolan. We're still in the foreplay stage. NOLAN Well, then, tease me with something. How did the killer know how to find your burial site? ROSALIND Because I told them. What about you? What would you do if you were trapped like that girl? Consume the air as fast as possible and get it over with or hold on? NOLAN I'd hold on -- as long as I could. ROSALIND You'd only be making it harder on yourself. NOLAN I'd be giving my friends a chance -- the best possible chance of finding me in time. ROSALIND Maybe that's the difference. NOLAN Between? ROSALIND You...and me. I've always known, ever since I was little, no one was coming to save me. Is that why you're so good? "Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am. Serve and protect, ma'am." NOLAN I'm good because my brain's not broken. Now, are you gonna give us something real, or are we shipping you back to prison? Because I'm good either way. ROSALIND Are you? [ Breathes deeply ] Okay. I'll take you to the second grave. NOLAN Okay. You think we're gonna find another body in there? ROSALIND I know you will. I just need you to do one thing for me first. NOLAN And what's that? ROSALIND Ask Armstrong if I was worth it. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - SALLY PORT NOLAN and ARMSTRONG are talking privately in the sally port. NOLAN You don't have to answer. I could just tell her you said, "No, it wasn't worth it at all." ARMSTRONG Nah, she'll know you're lying. NOLAN I doubt it. I don't even know what I'm lying about. ARMSTRONG [ Sighs ] She's talking about when I caught her. Five years ago. NOLAN About the time your wife died. ARMSTRONG Yeah, Rebecca was -- she was sick for over a year. I should've taken a leave. I was about to -- or, you know... at least, I tell myself I was. NOLAN And then you caught the case? ARMSTRONG Look, they'd already found a few bodies. A task force was put together with the FBI. They asked me to run our side. I... should've said "no." NOLAN Come on, Nick. No way you could've known the toll it was gonna take. ARMSTRONG But I did. Deep down, I -- I did. I-I-I knew I'd barely leave the office. I knew that every time I tried, another theory would pop into my head and I'd have to stay and run it down. Every time I had a few days off, another body would pop up. And how could I walk away when all these grieving families called me every day, wanting answers? NOLAN Any detective would have done the same. ARMSTRONG (agitated) No! Nolan! Don't let me off that easy! Don't! My wife was dying! I wasn't there! The day she died, I -- I wasn't there, so there's no excusing that. NOLAN So, what do you want me to tell Rosalind? INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - HOLDING ARMSTRONG enters; ROSALIND looks up. ARMSTRONG Hey. Catching you... was worth everything it cost me. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - GREY'S OFFICE ARMSTRONG, GREY, HARPER, and NOLAN are watching the monitor, which shows a crew in hazmat suits digging up another body in an unnamed location. ARMSTRONG Looks like she was killed more recently than the last one. HARPER Yeah, three months ago, maybe four. GREY Check for the tattoo on her ribs. ARMSTRONG Day of Death -- September 8th. That's three months ago to the day. NOLAN The first body we found was killed exactly three months before that. So, if the pattern continues... Someone's getting killed today. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - HOLDING NOLAN, HARPER, GREY, and ARMSTRONG are trying to interrogate ROSALIND in her holding cell. NOLAN Your friend already has their victim, don't they? ROSALIND Duh. That clearly is a ritual that must be followed. ARMSTRONG Tell us who it is. ROSALIND Why on Earth would I do that, Nicholas? These women are my victims as much as the killer's. And now they have another one, and I will savor every second of your futile race to save her. They all glare at ROSALIND and NOLAN shuts her cell door and locks it. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, DAY - BULLPEN NOLAN, HARPER, GREY, and ARMSTRONG are all discussing how they can possibly save the next victim. HARPER We've got less than 24 hours to save this girl. What is the plan? GREY You and Nolan meet the body at the morgue. We need an ID on both bodies. If we can connect the first two victims, we might be able to predict the third. ARMSTRONG That's a Hail Mary. GREY You have a better idea? ARMSTRONG I'm going to the prison, turn it upside down. That's where she planned this whole thing. It's our best shot to get some evidence. GREY All right. I'll have Bradford and Chen meet you there. You -- the morgue. INT. MORGUE, DAY - ME'S LAB NOLAN and HARPER have returned to morgue. HARPER Hey, we need to pull a fingerprint. LOWELL Well, let's see what I have to work with. (looking at the recent body) Oh, that's doable. She's in better shape than the last one. Huh. NOLAN What is it? LOWELL There's a slight discoloration under what's left of her nails. Saw it in the first victim's, as well. Took a swab. HARPER And? LOWELL It's a microbe strain indigenous to animals in Africa and Asia. HARPER So, does that mean both victims flew internationally? LOWELL Unlikely. For the microbe to remain present on the victim's hand, they would've had to come in contact right before they died. NOLAN When they were killed. HARPER Is there somewhere in LA they could've been exposed? NOLAN (thinking) The zoo. HARPER You think our guy was tattooing and suffocating his victims in one of the most heavily trafficked attractions in the city? NOLAN No, um, not that one. The old zoo. The one they shut down in the '60s. I found it when I was first exploring LA. It's abandoned, it's isolated. And it's close to the two burial sites. Is it possible those microbes can still exist in the soil there? LOWELL (visibly uncomfortable) Yes. INT. ROSALIND DYER'S CELL, NIGHT ARMSTRONG, CHEN, and BRADFORD have arrived at the prison. HERNANDEZ I don't know what you think you're gonna find. We've tossed Rosalind's cell top to bottom, searched every item in there. ARMSTRONG Hey, you never know. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can help. BRADFORD This is a dead end. ARMSTRONG Yeah. ARMSTRONG Where are the books? CHEN What? ARMSTRONG The books. Rosalind was a voracious reader. There would be books. HERNANDEZ She sent them back to the library a couple days ago. CHEN Right before she came to us. ARMSTRONG She knew we'd search her things. I need to see every book she checked out in the last... six months. ARMSTRONG, CHEN, and BRADFORD search through the books with no luck until CHEN finds a folded up piece of paper tucked into a book. CHEN Uh...I got something. CHEN has found a code on the piece of paper. ARMSTRONG It's code. CHEN A simple substitution cypher. That number in the corner, I bet, is a page in the book. BRADFORD Is that a signature line? CHEN deciphers and writes out the letters of the code until they spell out "Bryan Coleman" CHEN Um... I got him. Bryan Coleman. INT. BRYAN COLEMAN'S HOUSE, NIGHT Several officers in full SWAT gear as well ARMSTRONG, BRADFORD, and CHEN penetrate a house, looking for a potential victim. OFFICER Freeze! LAPD! OFFICER Go, go, go! OFFICER #1 I got eyes! OFFICER #2 Hallway clear. OFFICER #3 Kitchen's clear. ARMSTRONG faces a wall in a dining room, in shock. CHEN and BRADFORD soon join him in the room. CHEN Who is that? The next victim? The wall is covered with pictures of ARMSTRONG's deceased wife. Painted over the pictures are the words "YOU FAILED HER" in red paint. ARMSTRONG No. It's my wife. Rosalind put the letter in the book for me to find... to torture me. She's been a step ahead of us the whole time. EXT. OLD LOS ANGELES ZOO, NIGHT [ Car door opens, closes ] NOLAN 7-Adam-15, show us Code 6 at the old Los Angeles Zoo. NOLAN and HARPER have arrived at the zoo, opening a fence in order to enter the abandoned property. HARPER So, what? We do a sweep, look for microbes? NOLAN Yeah, something like that. Oh. Well, that's not creepy at all. NOLAN and HARPER have spotted a seemingly abandoned cabin, but the lights inside of it are on. HARPER Does have a Ted Kaczynski vibe. I'll go around back. Count to five and then breach. And whatever you do, do not shoot me. NOLAN Count to five, breach, don't shoot you. Copy. Five, four, three, two... one. NOLAN and HARPER enter and search the cabin until HARPER finds NORA VALDEZ chained to a bed. She is injured but still alive. HARPER Nolan, I found her! She's alive! NOLAN Is she okay? HARPER Yeah. Go. 7-Adam-15, I need an RA, Code 3 at the old LA Zoo. Alert the watch commander and Detective Armstrong. We have found our next victim, and she is alive. NOLAN finds a barrel in the corner of the room and sees blood stains in it. NOLAN This is where he suffocated them. NOLAN spots a man with his head covered watching them through a window. NOLAN (alarmed) Harper. Got this? HARPER Yeah, yeah. Go, go. NOLAN 7-Adam-15, in pursuit of suspect. Requesting airship and backup. He follows the man down a drainage conduit, into an area full of grime, overgrown vines, and an empty cage. From the shadows the man attacks NOLAN, hitting him and throwing him down, and hauls NOLAN to a vat of water, in which he tries to hold his head down. NOLAN fights back but is submerged over and over, until HARPER can be heard searching for him. HARPER Nolan! NOLAN gasps for air as the man runs off. HARPER You okay? NOLAN I'm okay! Go! HARPER runs after the man, as does NOLAN, but he has escaped through a door which he locked with a wheel. HARPER and NOLAN try in vain to turn the wheel. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, NIGHT - BRIEFING ROOM NOLAN, HARPER, BRADFORD, CHEN, LOPEZ, WEST, and ARMSTRONG are being briefed by GREY about the ongoing situation. Bryan Coleman's arrest information and mug shot is being displayed on a TV screen. GREY So, the good news first. Nora Valdez -- the woman Harper and Nolan rescued -- she's gonna be okay. WEST What about Bryan Coleman? GREY Still no sign of him yet. But his face is everywhere. And the FBI is stepping in to help with our investigation, so it's just a matter of time before we get him. CHEN What do we do now? GREY You go home, Officer Chen. And don't think for a moment you failed. A woman's alive because each one of you gave your all during the last 36 hours. ARMSTRONG Sergeant Grey's right. You should each be proud of the work you did today. GREY All right, that's it. The officers exit the room. CHEN turns to BRADFORD. CHEN If I can be wheels up in the next 10 minutes, I might beat the afternoon traffic, which means I will be in bed within the next hour. BRADFORD That's a mistake. CHEN What? Why? BRADFORD Look, after working a hardcore assignment like this, you need to go blow off some steam after shift -- you know, give your brain a different focus. It's the only way you have a fighting chance of actually sleeping. Trust me. CHEN So... as my training officer, you're saying that I should go get a drink? BRADFORD A strong one. Maybe even with another human. CHEN Hmm. They leave as NOLAN approaches ARMSTRONG to console him. NOLAN You all right? ARMSTRONG Not even close. NOLAN Well, I'm not going anywhere until you are. INT. LOPEZ/EVERS HOME, DAY - LIVING AREA LOPEZ has returned to home to find EVERS passed out on the couch. There's an empty Scotch bottle and an open prescription bottle on the table beside him, pills spilled out of it. LOPEZ Wesley? Wesley. Wesley. Wesley! Wake up! Wake up! Come on! EVERS finally wakes up after LOPEZ slaps him repeatedly. EVERS gasps LOPEZ Hey. Hey, hey, hey. What the hell were you thinking? EVERS (confused) Huh? LOPEZ You mixed anxiety meds and alcohol. Are you trying to kill yourself? EVERS Uh...I don't -- I don't...know. LOPEZ shakily INT. BAR, NIGHT CHEN and CALEB are sitting at a table, drinking alcohol. CALEB I'm so glad you called. CHEN Yeah. Me too. Look... I'm sorry if I'm a little rough around the edges. It's been a really long two days. CALEB Yeah, I might've seen some news stories. CHEN Yeah. God, it's been so intense. CALEB Well, I am here to distract you, which means work talk is officially off-limits. CHEN Okay. So, what should we talk about? CALEB Me, obviously. CHEN Okay. Good. Cheers. CALEB Cheers. CHEN Cheers. To you. CALEB To me. INT. MID-WILSHIRE STATION, NIGHT - BULLPEN AREA NOLAN and ARMSTRONG are sitting at a desk, talking to one another and doing paperwork. ARMSTRONG I miss her. NOLAN (gently teasing) Rosalind? ARMSTRONG My wife. NOLAN Yeah, you have to forgive yourself for that. I know that's easier said than done, but you had a lot of great years -- and...one really bad one. Unfortunately, it was the last one, so that becomes the lens through which you look at the rest of your relationship. ARMSTRONG It's not a lens. And Rosalind knew it -- knew exactly which button to push to destroy me. NOLAN Which is why you need to learn to let that go. Because you don't want that woman in your head anymore. ARMSTRONG No, I don't. GREY exits his office and approaches ARMSTRONG and NOLAN GREY Crime scene unit just found a body -- buried under that cabin at the old zoo. NOLAN Another victim? GREY Not exactly. Fingerprints match Bryan Coleman. NOLAN If Bryan was already dead, who the hell tried to kill me? EXT. ALLEY, NIGHT CALEB leads CHEN out of the bar and into an alley. CHEN is clearly intoxicated. CHEN I should call an Uber. Y-You don't think that they would tow my car, right? CALEB No. The bar's used to it. CHEN Ohh! Oh! (She drops her cell phone; CALEB catches it and puts it in his back pocket) Sorry. CALEB Okay. CHEN Well, if you can't tell, I had a -- I had a really good time. CALEB Me too -- unfortunately. CHEN Why? You wanted to have a bad time? CALEB smirks and begins to lead CHEN to his car. CALEB Might make this next part a little easier. CHEN What? (she slips and nearly falls down until CALEB catches her) Whoop! [ Laughs ] CHEN realizes something isn't right. CHEN You put something in my drink. CALEB covers CHEN's mouth with his hand to prevent her from screaming. CALEB Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh. Shh, shh, shh, shh. [ Muffled screaming ] CALEB puts CHEN in the trunk of his car. CHEN Damn it! CHEN watches CALEB close the trunk of the car and she loses consciousness. TO BE CONTINUED... Category:Transcripts